Guess who was the first player on the ice today for an 11 a.m. practice? Indeed, Ryan O’Reilly. No shield, ready to go. Good bet his nose is not broken, given that he’d likely be wearing a visor or full cage in practice to get used to it for Thursday’s game at Phoenix. As most of you know, Factor took a stick across the nose in last night’s 2-1 overtime victory over Calgary at the Pepsi Center. UPDATE: He said his nose is broken, but he will not wear anything to protect it and he’s more upset about clanging a shot off the crossbar than taking the high stick from defenseman Mark Giordano on his follow-thru.

Meanwhile, looks like everyone is participating today except (update defenseman Erik Johnson and) goalie Semyon Varlamov. Jean-Sebastien Giguere is at one end and the guys are shooting on an Easton “shooter tutor” in the opposite net. Varly is likely just taking a maintenance day. Johnson missed Tuesday’s game with back spasms. Update later.

Also, here’s some information about a fundraiser for Cody Beekman, the 21-year-old hockey player who was seriously injured by a drunk driver in October. Dawg Nation, a beer-league hockey group that prides itself on helping hockey players in need, is putting together a “Skate for Cody” event Saturday. The details:

— Co-hosted by Dawg Nation and The Scouts (Cody’s adult team)

— The Ice Centre at Promenade has donated the center (blue) rink, from 4–5:30 pm on Saturday, March 24th.

— This will be a family open skate.

— Anyone can skate for a suggested donation of $10.

— If you don’t have skates, they will be provided by the Promenade, free of charge

— All proceeds will go directly to Cody to aid in his recovery.

— Cody will be on hand.

— If you can’t make it and want to make a tax deductible donation to Cody, the link is http://www.dawgnationhockey.org/fundraisers/cody/codybeekman.htm.

— Cody will be receiving a check from Dawg Nation at the Avs/Columbus game on April 5th.

Joe Sacco couldn’t hold it in anymore. After watching his team get zero power plays for the sixth time this season (in the last 10 seasons combined, there was just ONE game in which the Avs didn’t get at least one power play), the Avs coach unloaded on the officiating his team has received, including tonight’s from Greg Kimmerly and Wes McCauley.

“Enough is enough,” was Sacco’s money quote, which will be repeated in the paper tomorrow, along with other ones.

Can’t say I disagree. How in the world no call was made tonight when Ryan O’Reilly got totally high-sticked in the face by Mark Giordano – drawing a pool of blood – I’ll never figure out.

If the rationale was “Hey, we’re referees at the end of a big game, so we’re going to swallow the whistle and let the boys play”, I could see that. Except, these same refs made a completely ticky-tack call just a few minutes before on Colorado’s Steve Downie, an alleged trip on a Calgary guy (whose name escapes me at the moment) who did a major swan dive after barely being touched.

It is rather striking that no NHL team has more than three games without getting a power play this year, but the Avs have now had six after tonight. The Avs aren’t the most physical team in the league, but come on – no hockey team plays that clean so often as teams allegedly have against them.

The Avs got the win, but Sacco was peeved that Calgary got the loser’s point – which could still be very big in the final analysis in the phone booth that is the Western bubble team playoff race.

Along with the Downie call, there was a phantom slashing call on Mark Olver earlier in the game. We’ll see if Sacco gets a fine from the NHL, but he didn’t seem to care by this point.

Other quick hits:
– I think Erik Johnson will be back soon, if not by Thursday in Phoenix. His back issue seems to be temporary.

– Shane O’Brien had another outstanding game. The Avs really need to make him a good offer to keep him, as he’s a UFA this summer.

– I thought the Avs played pretty well, but there were still some sloppy moments with the puck – especially at the end of regulation. If I’ve seen it once, I’ve seen it a thousand times with this team now: they often take the last few seconds of a period off, and it could have cost them the game tonight. Semyon Varlamov had to make a very tough save at the buzzer.

– The PK was really good tonight. Jay McClement deserves a lot more ink than he’s gotten from me probably this year. He’s been outstanding defensively.

Terry Frei graduated from Wheat Ridge High School in the Denver area and has degrees in history and journalism from the University of Colorado-Boulder. He worked for the Rocky Mountain News while attending CU and joined the Post staff after graduation. He has also worked at the Oregonian in Portland, Ore., and The Sporting News. His seventh book, March 1939: Before the Madness, was issued in February 2014.

Chambers covers college and professional hockey for The Denver Post. He has written for the Post since 1994, after dumping his first 9-to-5 office job a couple years out of college. He primarily follows the University of Denver hockey team and helps cover the Avalanche.